


Exequies

by thebullandthetortoise



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:48:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23931058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebullandthetortoise/pseuds/thebullandthetortoise
Summary: One week after Yamaguchi Tadashi's death, Tsukishima attends his funeral.
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei & Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Exequies

**Author's Note:**

> i'm so sorry

Tsukishima never expected to have to bury his best friend.

He never expected to have to speak at his funeral.

Never expected that he’d be by himself for the rest of his high school career.

But, here he was. Getting ready on the day of his funeral.

It had only been a week since Tadashi’s passing, but Tsukishima felt like it had been years. Years since he’d heard his best friend snicker at something he’d said, years since he’d seen that stupid head of hair that he never cared enough to tame bound up his driveway and into his home without knocking because let’s face it, the other boy practically lived there anyway, he was sure his mom did more of Tadashi’s laundry than his own. It felt like it had been years since he heard Tadashi’s voice. That stupid voice that he loved so damn much.

Most of the funeral went by slowly, but Tsukishima could do nothing the entire time but stare at the coffin that held his best friend’s body. When it was finally his time to speak, Daichi had to shake his shoulder a bit to get him to pay attention.

He stood up and moved to the podium, setting down the paper with the words he’d written in front of him, but it was almost like he couldn’t see them.

The entire week, the rest of the team hadn’t seen him cry once. His mother hadn’t heard him crying in his bedroom. He couldn’t even look himself in the mirror and cry. Tsukishima wasn’t a person that put a lot of weight on emotions, but now, he felt numb. All over. It was hard to even put it into words. He hadn’t spoken to the rest of the team since it happened.

He stood at the podium for a few moments before finally speaking, reading off the paper in front of him.

“Tadashi was… was my best friend,” he started quietly, chewing on the inside of his cheek before speaking again. “I never told him that. But I don’t think that I needed to. He knew. Because he was so well-entuned to everyone’s emotions. He could tell if someone was upset based on how they looked at him, and he was good at it, too,” he said softly. “When I met him, he was really… skittish, and he was always getting made fun of, but he stopped letting himself get made fun of when we started hanging out,” he said, nodding a bit. “He started standing up for himself. And standing up for me, even though I thought it was embarrassing.”

He stopped, staring forward at the ground in front of him. He exhaled deeply, shaking his head a bit.

“I thought it was embarrassing. Things he did- like, he was so loud sometimes, and I’d just tell him to be quieter. He’d brag on me constantly, and I told him to stop. He apologized to me so many fucking times,” he said, clenching his fists tightly on the podium. “But he was my best friend, and I never even told him that. I never even got to say it to him,” he said.

Akiteru could tell Kei was getting worked up, could tell that he needed to sit down. He stood from his seat, holding up a hand to Daichi who had also started to rise.

He moved to his brother, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “Kei, he knew you loved him,” he said quietly so that no one but the people in the front row of the crowd could hear him. “He knew you so well it scared me sometimes. He knew he was your best friend, and he loved you so much,” he said, nodding.

Kei’s hands shook on the podium, listening to his brother speak. He knew it was true- Tadashi knew him better than anyone. And he liked to think he knew Tadashi better than anyone, too. But now, he wasn’t sure. He nodded, grabbing the paper and moving away from Akiteru, sitting back down in his seat.

The rest of the funeral went by quickly, the burial just as fast. It seemed everyone had the same idea- pack up and leave quickly. Tsukishima blinked when everything was finally over, staring down at the grave marker in front of him after he thought that everyone else had left. He clenched his fists at his sides, seeming not to notice the Captain and his Vice-Captain standing behind him as he started to speak.

“Why?” He asked softly, furrowing his brow. “Why’d you have to leave _now_ , huh? I was just starting to get better at this stupid friends thing, why’d you have to go so soon?” He asked, shaking his head. “It’s selfish, is what it is. Leaving so fucking soon when people still need you,” he said.

Daichi held Suga’s hand as he started to reach out, shaking his head a bit.

“I still need you, Tadashi. You can’t leave this goddamn soon. Not when I still need you,” he said, his hands beginning to shake and his voice finally, _finally_ beginning to break. “Who the hell am I supposed to eat lunch with, huh? Who am I supposed to invite over if I get a new game? And what the hell about your stupid fucking record collection?” He asked, his voice breaking more and more. He fell onto his knees in front of it the grave marker, and-

Cried.

He sobbed loudly, and Daichi finally let Suga’s hand go. Suga kneeled down next to Tsukishima and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pulling the taller boy against him. Tsukishima let it happen, let his head drop onto Suga’s chest, and wrapped his arms around his waist. He continued crying like that for what felt like hours, the rest of the team waiting in the parking lot as their Co-Captains comforted their blocker. After he felt he was ready, he finally stood up, wiping roughly at his eyes. Suga stood up with him, smiling up at the other boy.

“He’d be proud of you, you know,” he said, punching him lightly in the arm. “Finally showing some emotion. You never do that,” he teased lightly, and Tsukishima actually laughed. It was a sad, watery laugh, but it was a laugh nonetheless. He nodded slightly, sniffling.

“I know,” he said quietly, glancing back down at the grave marker. “I know.”

The two escorted Tsukishima back to the parking lot, where his brother was still waiting on him. Akiteru wrapped an arm around Kei’s shoulders once more, ruffling his hair a bit. “Mom’s got dinner on the table. You need to eat something,” he said.

Kei didn’t argue, for once, or protest having his hair messed up. He waved goodbye to his teammates before climbing into Akiteru’s car, talking with him quietly on the way home.

This was going to be hard, he knew that. But Tadashi would want him to be okay. So he would be okay. 


End file.
